Atsede Habtamu

Atsede Habtamu Besuye (born 26 October 1987) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in road running and the marathon distance.

She came to prominence at the IAAF World Road Running Championships in 2007 where, at the age of nineteen, she ran a time of 1:08:29 for the half marathon – a record for a teenage athlete. She stepped up to the marathon a couple of years later and was runner-up on her debut at the Dubai Marathon. She ran at the Boston Marathon later that year but had her first success at the Berlin Marathon, which she won in a personal best time of 2:24:47. She ran course records to win at the 2010 Eindhoven Marathon, 2011 Daegu Marathon and 2012 Tokyo Marathon.

Born in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, Atsede Habtamu's first appearances at elite level came about after a performance at the Ethiopian 20 km trials for the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships. Her finishing time of 1:11.06 for second place behind Bezunesh Bekele was a surprise result for the unknown athlete. At the World Road Running Championships in Udine, Italy, she was fifth and finished behind Bezunesh who set a national record for the distance and led the Ethiopians to the team silver medal. Her time of 1:08:29 made the 19-year-old Atsede the fastest ever teenager to run the half marathon at that point. She ran at the Delhi Half Marathon two weeks later and led through much of the race, eventually clocking 1:10:30 to finish as runner-up behind Deriba Alemu. The Great Ethiopian Run the following month was her first major race over 10 kilometres, but she faded in the final third of the race and finished in ninth position.

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